Lucy
by YAY13
Summary: Luke thought he was the only one of his kind... [Disclaimer - I don't own anything you recognise]
1. Organic Warfare part 1

Hello. I do not own the Sarah Jane Adventures, I'm afraid.

Also, I would like to take the time to say a big thank you to GleeJunkie007 who gave me advice and ideas for this story! Thanks!

Luk-cid dreaming. That was the jokey name Luke gave it. It wasn't really dreaming – Luke couldn't dream. But he wasn't really awake either. It was the downside of remembering everything he saw, everything he heard, everything he felt. Occasionally his mind would wander back to a time where everything was perfect – the time Maria had visited and they had eaten a cake Clyde had baked, sitting on a hill, watching the sunset and the stars dance. And occasionally his mind would tumble down a rabbit hole – the deep depths were the Bane and the Slitheen and the Trickster lived – and he would remember that first terrible pain, the first betrayal where Mrs Wormwood twitched her ring and his heart almost stopped.

That was why Luke needed the nickname – to make it a joke and laugh in the face of his nightmares, like Clyde always seemed to do. He had a good life. He loved his friends, his mum, his school. He loved saving the world. But it came with a cost and that cost was the bad memories – the (approximately) 27.65% of his memories that were bad. The mistakes in public, the pain and fear that came with what he did, the frustration that no one understood him completely...

.

 _It had hit him like a concrete block. Pain radiated from his heart. His legs gave way. His mind began to jump about and, for the first time in his life, Luke couldn't think. That was the worst thing. Not his inability to move or speak or breath. His inability to think._

 _Dying._

 _Mrs Wormwood said dying. It was a foreign concept to the young man. He hadn't even got a grasp on living yet. She said dying. The woman who had made him, his mother under technicality, had said dying. She was killing him._

 _Luke didn't have a sense of right or wrong, good or bad. He was guessing, based on the twisting in his gut. What Mrs Wormwood was doing was wrong, bad, murder – the word came from nowhere but it fit. What Sarah Jane was doing was right, good, heroic. She tried to shield him and Maria from the Bane, tried to help. Maria tried to do damage, to save them all..._

"Luke?"

His name being called jolted Luke back to reality and he looked about, his mind working at inhuman speed to the world back together. Oh yes, the case. Sarah Jane was looking into an electronics company that had suddenly stopped all public production, fired all the workers of its most prominent factories and replaced them all with machines. They were planning how to get Clyde and Rani into the building. While the journalist and her son could get in using her press credentials, the two other teenagers would have to take the more _sonic_ approach. They had plans for the building up and were just thinking of a way in.

"What about the back door?" Clyde suggested and Rani spun the sonic about lazily.

"A fire door would work better." Luke pointed out, less likely to have guards.

Sarah Jane nodded, praising the young man for a good idea. Luke glowed with pride and smiled, pushing away all thoughts of Mrs Wormwood from his head. Occasionally he considered what his life might have been like if he had stayed with her, somehow convinced her to do go. He would play around with the ideas but be unable to ignore the guilty twist in his chest because he was Luke Smith – he was Sarah Jane's son and it was a title that he wore with more joy than he could ever see himself having as _Luke Wormwood_.

"So you two make it through as journalists and we'll break in." Rani summarised.

"And with enough time for me and Luke to get ready." Sarah Jane added.

Clyde and Rani nodded and said that they should probably start journeying over to the factory. Sarah Jane had offered to drop them off a short distance away but Clyde was anxious about them being linked in some way and thought it best they journeyed there themselves. Luke had tried to point out that the social media accounts linked the four tighter than any chemical bonding but Rani had shushed him and told him to let Clyde have his fun.

.

The company's CEO was waiting outside for Sarah Jane and Luke. He smiled as they climbed out, holding out his hand for Sarah Jane to shake.

"It's Mrs Asrak, isn't it?" Sarah Jane beamed, accepting the man's hand.

He nodded and asked for Luke's name, knowing Sarah Jane's from when she had gotten in contact. As the introductions were finished, Asrak turned towards the factory and drunk in the view as if it was a work of art.

"I am sure you will appreciate the technology that I have housed inside my factory, young man." Asrak enthused. "Shall we go in?"

Sarah Jane nodded and told the man to lead the way. With a flourish Asrak did. Pausing to glance about and see if she could spot Clyde and Rani, Sarah Jane followed, Luke in tow.

.

The interview had been going well. Asrak had discussed his plans for the future and his business model seemed to be viable – Luke had not found a single flaw as it had been explained to them. And yet something felt off. Something in the pit of Sarah Jane's stomach was pressuring her to ask more questions and to definitely not leave Asrak and Luke alone together.

The truth was, however, that she did not care much for Mr Asrak. She did not care for the amount of glass in his office or the way the only thing that wasn't made of glass was the man's desk or the way he glanced towards his display robots every few seconds.

"Well it's a very impressive business plan you've got here, Mr Asrak. But don't you care about all the people you've left unemployed by replacing them all with robots?" Sarah Jane growled.

Asrak shrugged.

"Why does it matter?"

Sarah Jane opened her mouth to say something more but the man raised a hand to stop her.

"Shall we stop skirting around the issue and finally confront the elephant in the room?" Asrak suggested.

Sarah Jane nodded and then offered her son a quick explanation as to what they meant. Asrak smiled gently and waited until the mother was finished to speak again.

"Humanity is so reliant on it's technology, on your little toys. I simply want to get ahead of the game. Would you care to see what my factory has been producing?"

He didn't give either Smith time to answer. Instead, he pulled a solid black object out of the draw underneath his desk. It pulsed for a moment and then seemed to grow slowly about his hand, forming a trigger and a barrel. Soon, although it was still very alien, the object took the unmistakable shape of a gun.

As the weapon was trained upon the duo, the display robots seemed to come alive. They smashed through their glass cases, trotting over with intent, two grabbing Luke while one positioned himself behind Sarah Jane and grasped her shoulders tightly. Asrak watched with great interest, almost lowering the gun absent-mindedly.

"What are you doing?" Sarah Jane shouted, glancing at her son with horror in her eyes.

Both struggled and glared at Asrak.

"Put the boy somewhere out of sight." Asrak ordered, dismissing Luke with a wave of his hand.

Mother's eyes met son's as Sarah Jane silently begged Luke to stay safe and promised him she would come to save him. Luke allowed himself to be led out and Asrak remained silent as he was escorted away. With the doors closed, the alien finally spoke again.

"I was warned about you, Miss Smith. It appears you have made quite an impact upon the stars."

Asrak scoffed for a moment and settled behind his desk.

"But it appears I have overestimated you. I was expecting you to at least try a two-pronged attack."

That meant only one thing to Sarah Jane – Asrak was yet to find Clyde and Rani.

.

Luke didn't particularly like the idea of being put somewhere out of sight. Out of sight was the sort of place people were taken when bad things were about to happen to them. And one of the things he had pretty quickly learnt during his first year of life was the sort of things that might happen to someone who was put out of sight by an alien. The Bane had hinted at eating people, the Slitheen at skinning them, the Gorgon at turning people into statues and Odd Bob's idea of out of sight was in some dead zone that had been cold and invasive and empty.

However, the robots didn't seem to care that Luke was unhappy. He had tried struggling and digging his heels in but his escorts had just continued on as if nothing was happening, scuffing the young man's shoes as they did so. Therefore Luke had stopped and started looking around, drinking in his surroundings in the hope that he would find something that might help him escape.

Suddenly a spray of water hit Luke from behind. The robots jolted and Luke leapt away as they began to spark and fail. The young man stared, trying to work out what had happened. Then the robots collapsed, clunking as they hit the concrete floor. Behind them stood Rani and Clyde, holding two metal fire buckets.

"Told you it would work." Clyde smirked, looking at Rani.

"Whatever." the girl replied, putting her bucket down.

She turned to Luke and asked for his mother. The young man gave a regretful shake of his head.

"We were both caught by the guy in charge, an alien called Asrak."

"What does he want?" Clyde asked.

Luke revealed that he wasn't told and asked the others if they had found out anything of use. The two glanced at each other before nodding and reporting that it didn't look good.

"Show me." Luke instructed.

.

"How old is your son, Miss Smith?" Asrak asked, slowly.

"Fourteen." was Sarah Jane's instant reply.

However her mind was slowly ticking over.

"Why are you so interested in my son all of a sudden?" Sarah Jane snapped.

Asrak scoffed gently and the organic gun shifted about on his hand.

"He just... Reminds me of someone."

Asrak blinked and smiled as if he had completely forgotten about the young man he had sent away and smiled at Sarah Jane.

"I'm afraid the real CEO is dead. Me and my men were forced to kill him so I could take his place. He made it easy, being a recluse. I took his place and no one even noticed. I even got to use my own name."

"Why are you doing this?" Sarah Jane demanded, horrified by what she had just heard. "What is it for?"

Asrak grinned, settling back into his desk chair. He stroked the gun as if it was just a part of his hand.

"The planet. I am going to take over the planet."

.

Luke almost stopped as they entered the production room but was spurred on by a push from Clyde. They darted behind a set of grease ridden crates and glanced out to see conveyor belts slowly plodding along and robots zapping the black gunk settled on them.

"What are they making?" Rani murmured.

"Guns. Enough to supply an army." Luke hissed back, gulping hard.

He hated the sight of it, rows and rows of robots, producing rows and rows of weapons. His hands clenched into fists and he glanced at his two friends.

"We need to stop this. Now." he announced.

Clyde and Rani both reported that they had not seen any sort of control room. So the group took to tracking the bundle of wires linked to one of the conveyor belts, tracking it up to the ceiling and then along until it passed through a small hole in one of the walls.

"Lets follow it."

.

The teenagers were still tracking the wires when they came across a doorway. It was painted with luminous yellow stripes and a sign with a dark logo was settled over the only window.

"Biohazard?" Clyde read slowly. "You don't think they're making some sort of chemical weapon or something?"

There was a clunking from the other side of the door and the trio ducked back into hiding. A robot emerged and thudded off down the corridor. Pausing until he was gone, the group set off towards the door.

They slowly opened it and slipped inside.

.

Clyde had seen films with biohazard rooms. He had seen TV shows with biohazard rooms. He had actually been in a biohazard room on a school trip gone wrong! And the room he had just entered was no a biohazard room. It was more of a prison cell. A dirty, damp cell with a set of locked barred doors and blackened windows.

"What are they keeping in here?"

"It doesn't look good." Clyde murmured.

Rani raised the sonic. She aimed at the lock and smiled bravely as she heard the tumblers slide out of place.

"Ladies first." Clyde offered.

Rani glanced towards Luke, going to see if he was going to hang back like his friend. Instead the young man edged past her, gripped the metal bars and slowly pushed the door open.

"Hello?"

.

Sarah Jane wasn't shocked. She had heard more than enough aliens telling her that they were planning on taking over the planet. And, yes, the bleeping of her watch had finally confirmed Asrak was indeed, an alien. However, she was confused. The company Asrak had taken over wasn't huge. The factory he was in control of was not a suitable base, by any means. And yet he seemed so convinced.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Sarah Jane asked.

Asrak's confidence was his undoing. He was more than happy to talk, to revel smugly in his brilliance. He wasn't aware of the two other teenagers in his factory, Sarah Jane reminded herself. It looked like she had overestimated him in fact and, although Asrak had her son, there was little doubt in her mind that she and her friends would be able to defeat him.

As Sarah Jane had suspected, the alien's confidence betrayed him again and he assured the journalist that he would show her his plan.

.

Past the door there were line after line of translucent plastic strips that they teenagers had to battle through. And once they had succeeded, they saw the room was full of monitoring equipment, forming a rectangle around a metal slab. And on that metal slab, dressed in white, dark hair spread around her head, oxygen mask on her face, was a girl. Her wrists were strapped tightly down with padded leather cuffs and her eyes were closed.

Luke stopped and stared.

"She's... She's like me."

.

Sarah Jane was escorted to a large control room. Most of the technology looked human, the same buttons and levers and dials she had seen in almost every other factory she had visited. However there was something in the centre of the room that screamed of not being human. It seemed to be organic, pulsing slowly and quietly as it sat idle.

"You did come rather early." Asrak mused slowly. "I finished the device but my army is no where near complete. The prototype is almost ready, however."

Asrak paused and sighed.

"I suppose I will have to make it look like you and your son disappeared mysteriously. I do not particularly want people coming here to investigate your disappearances while the final touches are still being made."

That encouraged Sarah Jane. If the plan was incomplete, her and her friends still had a good length of time to stop it. Now all she needed to do was to find the others.

Suddenly an alert filled the room. Sarah Jane looked about and saw that Asrak's watch as bleeping. He looked at it and frowned.

"It appears your son has escaped, Miss Smith."  
Sarah Jane swelled with pride and was sure that the young man was with Rani and Clyde, working to put an end to Asrak's plans.

"A mild inconvenience. I will set my robots out to look for him."

And with that the man shrugged it away, going back to explaining the machine. He eyed it with pride.

"I am sure you are much more interested in my device than in my factory's pest control, Miss Smith. This machine, my dear, will wipe out all of your species precious little toys. Every eletronic on Earth..."

.

Rani and Clyde couldn't help but stare at the girl. If they could look past the straps that pinned her wrists and the oxygen mask arched over her mouth and nose, they might have mistaken her for sleeping. But they couldn't. They just couldn't. Because the girl before them looked as if she had been separated from Luke at birth and the instincts to protect the young man extended to his female counterpart.

"Why does... Why is she strapped down?" Rani asked, moving forwards.

She so desperately wanted to free the girl but she wanted to make sure it was safe.

"In case of accidental activation, I guess." Luke mused, eyeing the instruments warily. "The last Archetype ran off."

Then he processed the concern in his friend's voice and assured her that the girl couldn't feel it.

"She's alive. She's breathing. The world around her just means nothing at the moment. There's no one in there to be concerned about being strapped down. No one in there yet."

"But you said you were programmed, that you were made out of brain scans of loads of people... How is she being taught?" Clyde pointed out.

The three teenagers began to look about, searching for some sign that the girl had been force-fed some form of education. Luke stumbled across them, a pile of DVDs tucked into one corner, each made up of gore and even more violence – the sort of video nasties that Sarah Jane had banned the moment he had shown up. And all of them had been fed into her. If he was made out of the minds of thousands of humans, she was made out of the violence of hundreds of fight scenes. He was not leaving her there a moment longer.

"We need to wake her up." Luke snapped, scanning the equipment.

He remembered back to his own activation and considered what bits were important. His activation had not been painful. But it had been terrifying. Waking up to the blaring alarms, the unconscious technician, the sparks and explosions... Luke didn't want that for the girl.

"Do you think you can?" Rani asked, lingering by his shoulder.

Luke studied the controls and nodded, working slowly because he was desperate not to do anything wrong. He did not wish to do the girl any harm. Pressing buttons, twisting dials, Luke kept glancing over his shoulder. The girl was still unresponsive, looking as if she was simply sleeping.

"Did her hand just twitch?" Clyde rushed out.

Luke and Rani turned, staring at the girl on the table. She shifted and the rhythmic breathing skipped and grew faster. Luke reached down, carefully touching her twitching hand and assuring her that she would be safe, that everything was okay.

The girl's lidded eyes snapped open and Rani was shocked at the familiarness of them. They were almost identical to Luke's. The girl looked about, trying to rip her hand away from Luke's. The young man instantly laboured over the straps that held her wrists to the table, opening them up and peeling them away.

"It's okay." Luke soothed. "We're not going to hurt y..."  
Luke was silenced as the girl threw herself at him and clasped her fingers tightly around his neck, choking him.


	2. Organic Warfare part 2

**Hello, so here is the next chapter!**

 **Also I don't own the people you recognise.**

"Get off of him!" Clyde shouted.

Clamping his hands on the girl's wrists, he pulled them off and rapidly tried to restrain her.

"The straps! Rani, the straps!" he called.

Luke had staggered backwards, collapsing against a piece of machinery. The girl paused and frowned, staring at Clyde, then Luke, then Rani. She stared and sucked in a deep breath.

"What's she doing?" Clyde asked, slowly releasing her wrists.

Luke took a break from gasping in deep gulps to answer.

"She's learning. Don't... Don't touch her just... let her think."

Rani and Clyde helped Luke to his feet and slowly backed away from the girl. They watched as she carefully removed the oxygen mask from her face and slowly plucked each sensor off, her eyes never leaving them.

"Do you know who you are?" Rani asked, taking a step forwards.

The girl looked about their age, maybe a year or so younger. And her eyes, hauntingly like Luke's, held a very human understanding. Rani knew she would hate herself if she didn't try to make contact with her.

"Just let her process." Luke whispered, holding Rani back.

She remembered that he had gone through everything the girl was probably going through. All the strangeness of suddenly coming alive with a brilliant mind and complete motor functions. There was a clunk behind them and both Luke and Rani glanced around to see Clyde had closed the door.

"What?" he asked under the weight of their looks. "Luke bolted when he first woke up."

"Luke?"

The girl was suddenly the centre of attention once more. They watched as she twisted the word about in her mouth, testing her tongue. She clenched and unclenched her fingers, wriggled her toes and repeated the name over and over again.

Sure that she was almost ready, Luke stepped forwards. His neck ached but he wasn't prepared to allow another Archetype to go through what he had alone. Being activated... It was terrifying. Luke had battled with that – how his first feeling had been pure terror. Did it make him a coward? Did it make him weak? He had decided it didn't – it couldn't. Because the world was a terrifying place and the fact that he was no longer scared, had found some brilliance and kindness and compassion in the world... It made him stronger.

"Hello." Luke murmured.

"Hello." the girl replied.

"My name is Luke. We're here to help."  
"My name is Luke. We're here to help."

She was learning to speak, to process. That was good. Luke couldn't help but feel proud of her.

"Why is she repeating everything you say? What is she doing?" Clyde asked.

"I think she's learning." Rani replied.

"Learning?"

"Yes, learning."

"She's stopped repeating."

"That's because she's clever. Probably knows better than to listen to you."

"No, if I'd been the first person Lukey-boy had heard speaking maybe he'd..."

Luke had known something was wrong when the girl had stopped repeating. He had realised that but couldn't work out what. She was just staring at Clyde and Rani, her hands fixed into fists, growing tighter and tighter.

"Be quiet." Luke instructed. "You're... You're overloading her."

Clyde and Rani looked guilty at the girl apologising. Luke took a deep breath, putting his arm on the girl's.

"You're going to be okay. I'm like you. I was made like you and I know people who can help you."

The girl nodded although Luke was not sure how much she understood. Activation was strange. Because the moment Luke had woken up, he had known nothing. And yet he'd been vaguely able to comprehend words spoken to him despite never hearing them before and he'd understood to trust Maria despite the fact he'd seen no real evidence he should. But he had been given the minds of humans. Everything the girl knew had been poured into her through video nasties.

Although Luke hadn't enjoyed it, he could understand why the girl strangled him.

Something brushing against Luke's arm made him look around. Rani stood there, holding out her jacket.

"She looks cold." Rani murmured, nodding to the short sleeved gown the girl was wearing.

Luke nodded and went to slip the jacket around her shoulders, relented and held it out to her. Confused for less than a moment, the girl put the jacket on. Rani flashed her a careful smile which the girl imitated.

"Hello." she said.

Rani returned the greeting. Then the girl offered it out to Clyde who did the same.

"We should probably get her out of here before anyone notices she's awake." Clyde pointed out.

.

Every electronic on Earth. That was what Asrak had said. Every electronic. Fridges and phones and cars and planes and life support machines. Sarah Jane felt her heart stop. The human world relied on electronics. Saving the world relied on electronics. She could remember the hopeless feeling in her chest when the Slitheen had drained all the power from the planet, when Mr Smith, her watch, her sonic lipstick were not working. If that had happened while an invading force lingered overhead... She wasn't sure what she would have done.

"You can't!" she tried.

Asrak simply smiled.

"All's fair in love and war." he teased.

"But wiping out electronics, you'd kill thousands."  
"Oh, I intend to kill millions."

He paused to stroke his device and then turned to Sarah Jane once more.  
"When my army is ready, I will set this off and take control of this planet. My army will destroy any resistance and then my people can settle here."

Once more he paused, this time drinking in the magnificence of this imagined future. Sarah Jane felt her skin crawl and glanced about looking for a flaw, some mistake she could exploit. Nothing.

She only hoped her teenaged friends were having more luck.

.

Luke had talked almost constantly with the girl as they crept down the corridor. At first Clyde had tried to shush his best friend, telling him that they would be found if he kept going. But then the girl had begun to use full sentences and Rani had begun encouraging her and he couldn't bring himself to stop them. Not that he would ever admit that seeing the young Archetype drink in the world for the first time was in any way moving. Clyde was not the type of person who ever got moved by anything. Not even one of those cute puppy dog adverts on the telly.

However Clyde couldn't help but notice there was something off about the girl. He considered himself quite the Archetype expert considering how much time he had spent with Luke and the girl seemed so... Unlike Luke. Luke was trusting (too trusting) and curious (overly curious) and processed everything like mad. The girl didn't seem to trust any of them, didn't seem to care greatly about how anything worked (unless of course she already knew how everything worked, which Clyde refused to dismiss as an option) and showed very little care about anything apart from their mission of leaving.

Suddenly a clunking filled the air. The entire group stopped, glancing about.

"Where's that coming from?" Rani asked, unsure due to the wild echoing.

"Does it matter?" Clyde asked, shoving the group into a nearby room.

.

The room they ended up in was a break room. A small fridge buzzed in the corner and a sink and kettle lay nearby. The centre of the room was taken up by a bare table with six seats set around it. Clyde stood by the door while Luke filled a cup and passed it to the girl. She drunk greedily.

"I don't think they'll check here." Clyde murmured.

"That means we can hide out here for a bit, right?" Rani said.

She received a nod from the others and they all convened on the table, taking their seats.

"You're going to need a name." Luke informed the girl.

He touched her arm gently, smiling as if to comfort her. She shook him off instantly, glaring at the young man. The others were shocked by her sudden hostility but said nothing, resolving not to touch her.

"Any suggestions?" Luke asked, turning his gaze towards Clyde and Rani.

"Leia?" Clyde suggested.

The looks he was shot suggested his friends were unconvinced. Rolling his eyes, he tried to state his case.

"I don't really care what you call me." the girl said with a shrug, pushing her chair back so she could watch each of the teenagers at once.

Luke studied the other Archetype, shaking his head slowly. Slowly, trying to make sure she understood, he told her the purpose of names, that they were to identify people and that she deserved to have a say in how she would be identified.

"Maybe she likes Leia." Clyde said.

"I didn't see Star Wars in the pile of DVDs she was taught with, Clyde." Luke pointed out.

"Something simple perhaps?" Rani suggested, trying to change the subject before the boys and their new friend got into a discussion about the finer points of Star Wars. "Lucy? Lola? Lala?"

Another shrug was sent in her direction and the girl once again informed them all that she didn't care.

"I like Lucy." Luke said, trying to offer the girl a welcoming smile.

She shrugged dismissively once more and Rani reasoned that they could call her that until they had agreed on a different name. A silence settled over the group and they all stared at the newly named Lucy.

"It must be so weird. The whole world is new to her." Rani whispered.

Lucy's eyes quickly darted onto the girl and Luke quickly battled to get her attention back onto himself. He explained what was happening and why they were hiding, trying to block out all of the memories of when Maria had to explain to him about the Bane and the dangers of the factory.

"We're on your side." Rani added.

"Yep." Clyde said. "We're friends."

Luke smiled comfortingly and told Lucy to tell them everything she knew. So she started, introducing the group to themselves.

"Perhaps we should focus on the stuff before that." Luke said.

"What do you remember from when you were... Comatose?"

Lucy gave a low growl, something none of them had been expecting. She glared at Rani and asked what the word meant, her hands sharply curled into fists.

"It's the state where a person is unconscious and cannot be awoken." Luke replied.

"Oh man, it's like dictionary corner over here." Clyde chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

Luke looked at him confused and Rani explained the reference – wondering why Luke had never watch a show that he would definitely excel at. Clyde's work, no doubt.

Lucy laboured over answering Luke's questions, the words not coming to her naturally. It was plain to see that, while she had been made like Luke and looked like Luke, she was not Luke. They worked in different ways, that was clear, and none of the teenagers could forget that her knowledge of the world came from films they would be told off for even showing an interest in.

When Lucy finished describing the weird feeling of being vaguely conscious in a half-alive state while her mind slowly filled with the best ways to do harm, a silence fell over them all.

"So what's the plan?" Rani asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"We sabotage the production line."

There was a sparkle in Clyde's eyes as he suggested the idea. Luke and Rani both nodded, hating the idea that they were even in a building that was churning out weapons.

"We should get moving." Clyde added, standing.

Lucy stood obediently even as Rani pointed out that they didn't know if there were robots outside.

"I'll go check." Clyde suggested.

Then, before anyone could protest, he ducked out, glancing about.

"All clear." he smiled.

They needed and crept from the room and into the empty corridor.

.

The next corridor, however, was not empty.

"We should turn back." Clyde said.

He had not had the bad luck of having the face the robots but, as far as he could tell, if one grabbed hold of one of them, they wouldn't be able to get free.

"We need to get past it." Rani said. We can't get back to the production line with that in the way."

"The water trick?" Clyde suggested. "Anyone see a tap?"  
The group looked around, frowning as they saw none. Luke took a deep breath.

"It's probably been posted there because I escaped." he reasoned.

His plan was clear in his voice and instantly gained rushed protests from Clyde and Rani. The young man nodded and tried to think of a new plan, wondering if there was something he could use to disable the robot. He certainly wasn't going to let his friends do that – the robots were probably looking for him after all and he could lead it away if something went wrong. He glanced about and smiled as he saw what he was looking for.

"Lucy, the screwdriver." he said, pointing towards it.

The girl glanced over her shoulder and nodded, grabbing the screwdriver. Luke held out his hand expectantly but he was never handed it. Lucy threw herself from their hiding place, twisting her body into a forward spring as she cartwheeled towards the robot. Her movements on the hard floor were silent and the other teenagers watched in shock and awe as her complex routine ended with her pouncing onto the robot's back and swiping down with the screwdriver, driving it into a mixture of wires. Sparks flew out and the robot began to convulse, arms flying everywhere. Lucy came flying backwards with such speed that Rani assumed she had been clipped by one of the wild limbs but the girl landed cleanly and stared at her handiwork with the same smug smile Luke presented when he had tricked Clyde into thinking he was oblivious about a topic.

"Well, that worked." Rani murmured as the robot's thrashing calmed and it dropped to the floor with a clunk.

"That was amazing!" Clyde gasped. "I'm definitely teaching you to skateboard."

"You never taught me to skateboard." Luke pointed out with a frown.

Clyde remembered the disastrous attempts at teaching the young man to skateboard. Despite Luke's brilliant hand-eye coordination (although Clyde still maintains that Luke beating him at Combat 3000 was just beginner's luck), he had no sense of balance at all. But Lucy clearly had more than just a sense.

"How did you know how to do that?" Rani asked.

Lucy shrugged, wiping her hands on the white material she was dressed in.

"It was just in my head." she reported.

However Luke came over, looking unimpressed. He knelt down beside the robot, looking in the mechanisms. The screwdriver had punctured a twist of wires, severing some and damaging others. He pulled the weapon out, examining what was left and trying to find a weakness that was not water or stabbing.

"What were you going to do if that hadn't made it go haywire?" Luke asked absent-mindedly, not glancing back.

"Stab it again." was the plain reply he was offered.

None of the other teenagers said anything.

As Clyde and Rani walked over to the door at the far end of the corridor, Luke linger, wondering what he could say. Nothing came to him. Normally he would ask Clyde or Rani or his mother but neither or the two former had any clue what to say either and the latter was not there to help him. Sighing, he glanced over to see where his friends had gone and saw the door swing.

"Come on." he told Lucy, heading forwards.

Then he stopped because Lucy grabbed his hand and dragged him back into hiding. After a moment, Luke heard it, a stomping sound, metal on metal. He bit his lip, knowing what to expect. Two robots were escorting Clyde and Rani back the way they had come. Luke could see the panic on his friend's face, the fear that the entire group would be discovered and was thankful for Lucy hiding him.

It appeared her senses were even better than his own.

As Clyde walked past, he glanced towards the hiding place and saw Lucy and Luke nestled there. He said nothing and did nothing other than allow one side of his mouth to twitch upwards into the tiniest of smiles.

Luke understood that one very well. It meant that Clyde was counting on him but, more than that, it meant that his best friend had all confidence in him, all trust that Luke was going to save them all.

.

Sarah Jane was overcome by horror as she saw Clyde and Rani being moved in. Firstly the horror came because they were now prisoners, now in danger and now putting a stop to Asrak's scheme as even harder than before. And then she realised Luke wasn't there and more horror rose up inside of her.

"Sarah Jane, are you okay?" Rani asked, rushing over.

The journalist nodded, pulling the two of them into a hug.

"Luke's okay." Clyde whispered.

Sighing with relief, Sarah Jane tightened her squeeze on the two of them and, when she finally released them, moved between them and Asrak.

"I was not aware you had any more little helpers, Miss Smith. No matter. They've been caught now."

Sarah Jane decided not to mention her son, her brilliant boy, was still loose. She didn't want to bring unnecessary attention to him.

"So what's this guy's plan then?" Clyde asked, bravely.

Sarah Jane quickly explained, describing the plan. Invasion. An army. And then she pointed out that his army was still not ready, that he could not take control of the planet until then.

But Clyde and Rani had their own piece of the puzzle. They glanced at each other and murmured a name.

"Lucy."

Both Asrak and Sarah Jane heard it. The journalist instantly inquired as to who Lucy was and Clyde stammered to explain.

"She's an Archetype, like Luke. Only she was fed on violent films and stuff."

It seemed to take Asrak a moment to understand what they were referring to but then he smiled.

"Ah, the soldier prototype in the biohazard room? You woke it up?"

Rani nodded, her hands curling into fists as she drunk in the tone with which the alien spoke about the girl.

"You grew Lucy as a soldier?"

"The first of an attack force, yes." Asrak agreed, curtly.

It all made sense. Lucy's aggression, her physical skill...

"You say her son is an... Archetype, as you call it?" Asrak pressed, looking at Clyde. "I suspected as much."

Sarah Jane was very thankful that her brilliant gang had made sure her son was not captured with them. But she was still horrified for the child that Asrak had made – the girl that her friends called Lucy.

"You can't use Lucy as a soldier! She's just a child!" Rani shouted.

"I was almost drafted into a war, mate, and I know for a fact that Lucy isn't going to let you do it." Clyde added.

Asrak nodded towards his robots. The clunked forwards, restraining the humans in the room. They didn't bother to fight back – not really seeing the point.

Asrak began slowly and quietly and calmly, keeping his voice level and his eyes matched with Sarah Jane's.

"That thing, that tool your friends corrupted, is going to be found, reset and reprogrammed to remove any damage done. Your son will be found, reset and will join the ranks of my army. And you three will die."

.

Luke had not been aiming to find his friends but somehow he had managed it, as if he had been drawn to them. He and Lucy had lingered in the shadows near a door, listening. He had heard what Asrak had said about Lucy and glanced her way to see what her reaction was. He assumed he had missed it because her face had not changed at all during the entire speech.

Luke took a deep breath and blocked Lucy's way.

"Is that what you pick? Him? He calls you a thing!"

Lucy shrugged, asking Luke why that mattered.

"You call me Lucy."

Luke sucked in a deep breath, finally realising why names hadn't mattered to her. He was made up of humans. Part of the transference that had made him had given him their capacity for emotion, their understanding of what was going on. That was why the world was confusing – at first his standard for good and bad was being discussed by a thousand voices. That moment in the car where everyone else on the planet seemed to be demanding they drunk BubbleShock, he'd had the thoughts of someone telling him that what was happening was good, another couple arguing that it was like some film Luke couldn't remember watching. From that, and the people around him, he'd created his own standards, his own rules and his own goals to strive towards.

What created Lucy, gave her her first glimpse of the world, wasn't full of emotion and ambition. It wasn't even alive. Her mind had been made from a stack of hard, cold disks. While Luke had, at first, assigned a value to everything as if it was alive, nervous of ever tiny bit of damage he might have done, Lucy saw everything as an object, some lump of metal or plastic or flesh.

"We said you could pick." Luke reasoned, trying to think of a way to explain what a name was.

He wished Clyde or Rani were there because Luke knew that names were on the logical level – a way of identifying person to person – but he knew there was an emotional level too. Because when he'd been faced with a new name – the new identifying mark of Ashley Stafford – it wasn't him, it hadn't been right.

"Why can't I pick Thing?" Lucy asked.

And Luke didn't know what to say. Because she was capable of thought, capable of making her own decisions. If she wanted to go to Asrak, he wasn't going to stop her. He would beg her not to but he wouldn't force her not to go.

"I get it. You've woken up with thoughts already in your mind, already being told what you're meant to do. But that's not how it's meant to be, Lucy. You get to chose." Luke implored.

He could understand that pull, the feeling in your head that you needed to obey and comply to the person who had made you. The young man had long ago decided that it wasn't gratitude for being given life but it was some deep level of programming. However it was programming that being in Sarah Jane's care had corrupted.

"I am a soldier. My loyalty is to my general." was Lucy's sharp reply.

"I'm a son. At least my loyalty is reciprocated."

At this, Lucy shoved Luke against the wall, putting her arm to his neck. She didn't press down and Luke was thankful for that. Clearly she was not yet prepared to hurt him.

"Stop using big words!"

"Okay. Okay. It just means that my mum, that woman down there, is just a loyal to me as I am to her. Maybe your general is the same with you. I don't know."

Luke took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"But I'm going to have to go down there and help Mum. And you're going to have to pick which side you want to be on."

Luke pushed past Lucy, leaving her standing in the shadows near the doorway. He didn't head inside, not wishing to be reset and weaponised. Instead he wandered off to go and see if there was anything he could do without getting himself caught.

Lucy watched him go and then glanced towards Asrak.

.

Luke had stumbled across it really: an unmanned computer system. It was of Earth, probably having been part of the factory before Asrak had taken over. But what it displayed was not earthly. There were plans for human beings – Archetypes. Luke ducked into the room, checking for certain that he was alone. Then he approached the computer.

He flicked through the plans – there were loads of them. A boy and a girl for each nationality. He drunk them all in and then glanced around guilty.

.

An alarm began to blare around, Sarah Jane, Clyde, Rani and Asrak. They looked about, frowning. Asrak's brow creased.

"What is happening now?" he demanded of one of his robots.

The robot approached and gave a report.

"He did what?" Asrak shrieked.

Sarah Jane got the distinct impression that Luke had been meddling. She waited until the robot moved away before inquiring as to what the report had been. It had been too quiet for her to get any idea other than that her son was causing trouble for the alien.

"Your son deleted the plans for the other soldiers!" Asrak spat venomously.

None of the others said anything.

.

"What did you do?" Lucy growled, standing in the doorway to the room.

She glared at Luke, watching as the young man turned to her. He raised his hands.

"I can explain." he said, hands falling.

Lucy was not prepared to listen. She threw herself at the young man, slamming a punch into his jaw. Luke had been punched before but never as hard as Lucy had done it then. He felt tears springing up into his eyes and was dazed. In one clean movement, she swung him around, forcing him into an arm lock.

"They were going to be like me!" Lucy growled, forcing a whimper of pain from Luke. "I've picked my side."

And Luke found himself being frog-marched out of the room.

.

Lucy threw Luke to the floor as she entered the room. She glared at him and then at Clyde and Rani. Sarah Jane simply stared, shocked by the similarities between the girl and her son. But then her eyes dropped down onto Luke and she stared at him, trying to see if he was alright.

Slowly he twisted around and looked up at her, trying to assure her he was alright. Lucy walked to Asrak's side and loyally stood there.

"He deleted the army files." Lucy murmured, sounding distinctly distressed.

"Well there seems to be no point for an army now. I had hoped that the Archetypes would take the place of my army on the field of battle but it appears we do not have the plans. Nor the time to hunt down the creator and purchase new ones." the alien shrugged carelessly. "Never mind, we have a sample to dissect."  
Luke's gaze darted towards Lucy, searching desperately for her reaction. Disgruntled but not shocked and definitely not scared, the girl continued to stand by the alien's side.

Sarah Jane felt her heart sink. Not only had her son destroyed the only way they knew of that would give him more of his own kind for the better of the planet... But his reward for it was more threats against his life.

"You know I'm going to fight you." Luke said, half looking at Asrak, half-looking at Lucy.

Turning to Lucy, Asrak pulled out his gun. He handed it to Lucy and it slowly fitted around her hand, quickly accepted by the girl.

"You do not need to be alive to be dissected." Asrak pointed out.

Silently, Lucy stepped towards Luke, her eyes fixed on him.

"He's the only one who understands what it like to be like you!" Rani pleaded. "Don't do this."

"Look, he's the only one who can make sense of what you are. He can't do that if you shoot him!"

Luke glanced towards Clyde and Rani, trying to thank them for what they were saying but also asking them to be quiet. They complied and Luke twisted around.

"Lucy, please, don't do..."

"Girl, put a bullet in him."

Lucy wiggled her fingers about the handle as if they were settling to their homes in a glove. Without a word, without meeting the eyes of the young man kneeling before her, Lucy approached Luke. Her feet were perfectly in line with her shoulders, her hand didn't even shake as she pressed the barrel into the mop of dark hair.

"Don't do this! I am begging you!" Sarah Jane screamed.

Lucy didn't look, keeping her eyes fixed firmly upon the device before her – the device Luke and his friends were so desperate to stop.

Luke heard the three gunshots. They were deafening. Luke assumed that death was coming. But nothing. No pain. No pain at all.

The room was completely silent. Luke almost assumed that the bullets had actually deafened him. Completely silent. The machine had stopped. Looking around, Luke could see three bullet holes had punctured the machine. One spilled the jelly-like chemical over the floor, another had smashed the control panel and a final one had left a hole in the centre of the receiver.

Carefully, as if unsure, Lucy offered down a hand. Pride and gratitude flowered over Luke's face as he accepted. Part of him still wanted to take the gun from the girl but he decided that doing so might alienate the girl more. She had made a big decision – one that he knew from experience felt horrible and terrifying – and he wasn't going to make it any worse for her.

Asrak stared in horror at his machine and then turned his attention to Lucy. She met his gaze, unwavering. A tense moment took control of the room.

"You picked the wrong side, you ungrateful brat!" Asrak roared, charging towards her.

The next few seconds happened so fast that even Luke with his enhanced senses was not exactly sure what happened. Asrak flung himself forwards, pouncing at Lucy. She swung the gun upwards and screams filled the air as Sarah Jane and Luke both went to beg her not to take the shot. There was a moment of consideration on Lucy's face and she lingered. Then she brought the gun down just as Asrak was about to slam into her. It clattered against his skull and the alien dropped like a weight at Lucy's feet. She stared at the gun for a moment and then let it drop, walking towards the others and eyeing the robots suspiciously. Luke was sure she would have attacked them if he had let her keep the screwdriver.

"Is he...?" Rani began, looking down at Asrak's crumpled figure.

Luke knelt down and reached for a pulse, unsure if he would find one even if he was looking in the right place for whatever species Asrak was. Thankfully, he found a strong and steady beat.

"Just unconscious." Luke reported.

"I know." Lucy said so matter-of-fact that it made the others question whether she cared either way.

She glanced towards Luke and asked if she could have the screwdriver back. Luke shook his head, asked Rani for sonic lipstick and laboured over finding the right setting. He was aware all eyes were on Lucy and he worked on the device in the hope that he would not join them in staring at the girl. Not that she seemed to care.

"She's an Archetype." Luke explained to Sarah Jane. "We named her Lucy. She's like me but she's not like me."

The mother nodded and, after her son freed her, approached the girl, introducing herself as calmly as she could.

"She's my mother." Luke explained to Lucy.

"And she's loyal to you?" Lucy asked.

Sarah Jane answered instead, giving a nod. The girl studied her for a moment and then asked what she was meant to do now. She shifted about a bit, new to the feeling of nervousness and feeling awkward about it.

"You can't stay here." Sarah Jane said. "We'll have to find you a family."

Lucy asked what a family was and the journalist smiled. If Luke had asked her what a family was, she might not have been able to answer. She didn't remember a moment of the time she had spent with her parents and her relationship with her aunt was not one that Sarah Jane would really consider to be a family. But then Luke and Maria had exploded into her life and she had accepted them as their family. Even with Luke in her life, she struggled to find the right words.

"A family is a group of people who care about you and want the best for you because you're important to them." Sarah Jane said but wasn't completely happy with the explanation.

Lucy thought for a moment, eyes flicking between Luke, Clyde and Rani. Then she settled her attention back onto Sarah Jane.

"Can I have yours?" Lucy asked.

Sarah Jane thought for a moment and then glanced back at Luke, Clyde and Rani. She imagined the good they could do the girl and searched for their approval. In the eyes of Clyde and Rani, she could see hopefulness, the hope that Sarah Jane would realise that Lucy belonged with the people who could understand what she had been through. And in the eyes of her son, she saw a desperation to help the girl – the girl who was in many ways his little sister.

"No, you can't have it. But maybe you could be part of it."

She had expected some sort of reaction from the girl. Not a hug, the girl did not seem to be the sort of person who wanted hugs. But maybe some sort of acknowledgement. Lucy, however, did nothing, just walked away, joining Luke, Clyde and Rani.

.

They returned to the attic, Sarah Jane sending a call to UNIT to come and collect Asrak and clean up the mess. She had soniced all the CCTV camera and wiped all knowledge of Lucy being grown. Not that there was much left. Luke had done a thorough job deleting it all. They asked Mr Smith to scan Lucy just to prove she was who they suspected she was and also that she was safe.

"Biologically, yes. Lucy is Luke's sister." Mr Smith pointed out, curtly.

He had long ago analysed the behavioural patterns of each of the humans in his life and knew exactly how they acted in each situation. It was clear to him that Luke wanted something and, being the intelligent being he was, Mr Smith was pretty sure that Luke had decided it was just about time that Sarah Jane adopted another child. Not that Mr Smith objected to her adoption of Luke – he liked having the boy genius there. But there was something about the behaviour of Lucy and, although he knew better than to fully trust the extrapolation of data, based on what he had seen of Archetypes in the past, he was wary.

"And she's completely human?" Sarah Jane clarified. "Normal and healthy?"

"Her metabolism runs is faster than what is to be expected of someone her age but she is beyond healthy. She is in fact in peak physical condition."

Sarah Jane nodded, berating Asrak for working so hard to turn a child – her son's sister – into a weapon. She glanced towards Lucy and Luke. The young man watched the girl with the same look he would if confronted with a new alien – a sort of wary awe, a cautious reverence. He clearly cared about the girl and although his short life had taught him against instantly trusting people, Sarah Jane could tell that his heart was going out to her.

Luke was, in fact, the only person on the planet who could truly understand what Lucy was going through. He was the only other Archetype in existence and he himself had been grown to the order of an invading force. In a way, Luke was just as much a weapon as Lucy.

"Thank you, Mr Smith." Sarah Jane said, turning. "Lucy, how about we have a little chat?"

Lucy nodded as if it was really not her decision to make and Sarah Jane's heart shattered. Orders, that was what Lucy was seeing in every suggestion. Someone would have to teach her about free will, about the same expression of passion and rebellion that had driven the girl to pick the Earth instead of mindlessly following Asrak. It was worse than with Luke in a way. Luke had craved praise, needed someone to tell him what he was doing was alright, that he was getting there. He had been dependant in a way that meant, as he learnt more about the world, learnt more about people, he could make his own decisions about who he wanted to please and create his own personality within that. Lucy's dependence required a General and Sarah Jane had the horrible feeling that she had been cast into the role.

.

Luke smiled as Sarah Jane returned to the garden. Her conversation with Lucy had not been very long and soon the journalist had come upstairs to ask him to keep an eye on Lucy. He'd found her sitting in the lounge window, her legs hanging out and suggested they go outside. Although the girl had only shrugged, Luke had seen in her eyes that she was very keen on the idea.

"Here you go." Sarah Jane smiled, handing over the pieces of paper. "Birth certificate and adoption certificate."

"Lucy Barbara Smith." Luke read aloud, passing the page to Lucy. "Says here you're thirteen months younger than me."

Sarah Jane smiled as she remembered the first evening she had spent with her son, the time after Maria had gone home. She had sent twenty minutes pumping up the air bed and gone downstairs to collect bed covers only to come back up to find Luke had proceeded to open up the valve and let all the air escape as he eagerly explored how it worked. But they had spent the time discussing how Luke was going to decorate his room and Sarah Jane would not change anything about that evening.

"We'll have to take you to the shops tomorrow as well. Get you some furniture and clothes."

"Why?" Lucy asked, slowly.

"Because people wear clothes." Luke asked patiently.

"But why?"

Sarah Jane waited for Luke's explanation but the young man opened and closed his mouth for a few seconds and then glanced in her direction.

"Mum, why do...?"

"I'm not sure, Luke, Lucy. I think its just something people do."

She was not going to have a conversation about why people where clothes at that time of night after the day she had had. Maybe in the morning, after a quick conference with Mr Smith, but not at that moment.

"I'm going to go and get some blankets." Sarah Jane announced, changing the subject.

She stood, smiling at the two children before disappearing inside. Luke watched her go and then turned to the girl beside him. The need to say something rose in his chest and he bit his tongue, trying to hold back the words until he knew exactly what he wanted to say.

"Thank you for helping us back there."

It sounded genuine and Lucy found herself staring. She'd never been thanked before. It felt... Strange. Like something warm was bubbling up inside of her.

"You told me to pick a side." Lucy murmured. "I picked."

"Can I tell you a secret?" Luke asked.

Lucy studied him, expecting some form of deception. Slowly, she nodded and allowed the young man to shift closer. The glasses of lemonade were returned to the side.

"You picked the right side, Lucy." Luke whispered.

.

They'd finally managed to settle Lucy into the spare room and Luke was getting ready for bed. He tossed his jeans onto the floor, knowing he'd be able to tell them apart from the other pairs of jeans that littered his carpet. Just as he prepared to climb into bed, he had a thought.

Almost forgot, he joked with himself.

Kneeling down, he fished his memory stick out of his pocket and smiled at it slightly. Then he heard Sarah Jane's footsteps down the corridor. He dived into bed, hiding the memory stick beneath his pillow.


	3. Growing Pains part 1

**Hello, sorry for the long interval. Been busy and lost all motivation for the direction I planned on this taking. But I've settled on one now and I think it's better than the original plan. So I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anyone you recognise.**

"So what's it like having a younger sister?" Rani asked as Luke took his seat in their form room.

It was Lucy's first day at the school and the first real opportunity they had to talk about Lucy without fear that she might have been listening in.

Over the past few days, they had accumulated stuff for Lucy – clothes, furniture, a school uniform, and Rani had come to see a distinct pattern in Lucy's choices. Everything was practical. If it didn't serve a basic purpose, the girl seemed unbothered with it. So Lucy's room had a bed, a wardrobe (complete with plain t-shirts, plain jeans and plain jackets), a desk, a chair and a lamp. On the desk there was a notebook and a set of pens. There were no books or films or cuddly toys or pictures or ornaments. Clyde had almost begged Lucy to pick up a football or something but she'd just shrugged and continued on after Sarah Jane.

"It's different," Luke replied. "Lucy and me are…"

The word 'incompatible' came to mind. They both saw the world very differently and, while he was more than willing to help look after the newcomer, he was thankful that school gave him something of a haven from her. Not that Lucy didn't go to Park Vale; she did but her thirteen years junior put her in the year below and Luke couldn't help but be relieved.

"It's bound to be different for a few days," Rani said. "How's Sarah Jane coping?"

Luke frowned. His mother seemed perpetually on guard since Lucy came. Her tool box had been put under lock and key, especially after Lucy had tried to liberate a screwdriver. Every knife in the kitchen need to be accounted for. And Lucy was under an almost constant watch. Not that the girl seemed to mind. She trained before breakfast, ate with them and then trained more. Luke had convinced her to start training in the lounge because then he could at least watch some telly or read a book somewhere he had some control over the temperature.

"I think she wants Lucy to have more in her life than just training. It's all she does."

"But she's not tried to kill anyone yet?" Clyde asked, trying to make it sound like a joke.

It didn't.

.

It was in first lesson when Mr Chandra came knocking. Luke frowned as the teacher's eyes fell onto him.

"Can I borrow Luke for a second?" the headteacher asked.

Clyde and Rani both turned to Luke, looking somewhat confused. But the most obvious answer for it all crossed their minds a second after: Lucy.

Luke disappeared out of the classroom and stopped in front of Mr Chandra.

"Do you know a way we can get in contact with Lucy's social workers?" Mr Chandra asked.

The young man before him faltered, trying to search for an excuse. Lucy did not have social workers. But, of course, having been adopted, she should have had at least one to make sure everything was going alright.

"She's gone away," Luke said. "Paris."  
It was the first thing that came into his head.

"And she didn't take her phone. Didn't want to be disturbed."

Mr Chandra grimaced and growled about how badly the situation had been handled. When he turned back to Luke, he asked if there was anyone else he could contact to help him deal with Lucy.

"Why? What's wrong?" Luke asked, heart skipping a beat.

If Lucy had hurt anyone…

"I can talk to her," he added, not wanting to waste another second.

Mr Chandra's face filled with hesitance and then, just as quickly, reluctance. He nodded and began to led Luke down the corridors.

.

Lucy's first lesson had been history so Luke was surprised when he was led, not to the history department, but to the gym.

When he walked in, he saw that Lucy's history teacher was already there, along with most of the school's pastoral team. Lucy was also there, hitting footballs against the wall with a baseball bat.

"Lucy!" Luke shouted to get her attention.

He looked over at him causally, spinning the bat in one hand.

"What's going on?" he asked, taking a step forwards.

Mr Chandra offered a warning but Luke shrugged it off. Lucy had gone to kill him twice and hadn't done it. Luke was willing to try for a third time.

"I don't like school," Lucy said firmly.

"Mum doesn't like it when people hit things with baseball bats."

Lucy dropped the bat, albeit reluctantly. Luke slowly went for his phone, offering Lucy a small smile.

"I'm going to call Mum, okay?"

Lucy did nothing and Luke turned to Mr Chandra as he typed in the number.

"I'm going to ask mum to take her home."

The headmaster could not disagree with the boy's decision. After all it did seem like the best course of action.

"And if I don't want to go home?" Lucy asked.

There was a fire exit in the gym that led to the playground. Luke watched her gaze flick onto it and shook his head, trying to tell Lucy to stay. But she was gone, sprinting across the gym at a speed Luke could not hope to match. She threw herself at the fire door, opening it and rushing out. The teachers gave chase while Luke just continued to call his Mum.

"It's Lucy," he said as soon as the call was answered. "She's run away."

Luke had barely managed to get those words out before Mr Chandra came back it.

"She vaulted the fence. I'm calling the police."

"You can't!" Luke exclaimed.

He had no clue what she would do to them. He pointed out that he had called his Mum and said Sarah Jane could handle it.

"She's the only one who can get Lucy to listen."

.

Sarah Jane drove around London, looking down the streets about school. She had assured Luke she would handle Lucy and convinced him to go back to lessons and asked Mr Smith to track Lucy's phone so she could follow her. The girl was still on the move, running for ten minutes straight at a consistent speed. She didn't seem to be stopping any time soon.

Sarah Jane however, managed to intercept her at the side of a road. Horns blared as the journalist suddenly swung to the curb and climbed out of her car.

"Lucy!" the journalist called.

She wanted to get angry but she knew she couldn't risk it. Lucy had already bolted from the school and she did not like her chances against her in a race.

"How about we go somewhere quieter?" Sarah Jane offered, aware that the other drivers might get out soon and complain.

Lucy did not take it as a suggestion but as an order. She marched forwards and slid into the front passenger seat. Sarah Jane got back into her seat and began to drive.

They sat in silence for a few long seconds, listening to Lucy's breathing. Her body was quickly recovering but Sarah Jane wasn't going to risk it, nervous that the run might have put a lot of strain on her.

"There's a bottle of water in the glove box," Sarah Jane said, tapping the glove box to make sure she was understood. "And my lunch is in my bag."

Lucy pulled out the bottle and sipped at it slowly. Then she searched through Sarah Jane's bag.

"What do I take?" she asked.

"What you want," Sarah Jane replied.

"I don't know these foods," Lucy reminded her.

Sarah Jane dared a glance into her bag to remind herself what she had packed and grabbed the chocolate bar she had been willing to treat herself with, placing it firmly in Lucy's hand. Luke liked chocolate and part of being a perfect soldier meant Lucy was unlikely to be lactose intolerant.

"Are you going to…" Lucy trailed off, searching for the right word, "court-martial me?"

"No," Sarah Jane said. "But you can't do this, Lucy. What happens if you had hurt someone? Or someone had seen you by yourself and hurt you?"

"I'd fight back," Lucy said, seeming to forget the first question.

Sarah Jane sighed, wondering how Lucy and Luke could be so different. Luke's first day at school had not gone well but it had been because he worried too much about people – about what they had thought and how he was meant to fit in. Lucy's troubles were the complete opposite – she cared too little.

"Look, we're going to talk about this later. I've got a…"  
Sarah Jane trailed off as she grimaced. She had an interview at a laboratory to get to, one she had been hounding them for for months. But she couldn't leave Lucy home alone – or even home with Mr Smith. She didn't think leaving an unpredictable child soldier locked in a containment vortex for a day would exactly help matters.

"You're going to have to spend the day with me. I have work so you'll have to behave whilst I'm working. And we'll talk about how we're going to punish you when we're at home and I've had a chance to talk to Luke."

Then Sarah Jane fell silent, driving off to the laboratories she was due at.

.

Luke shuffled into his classroom awkwardly. He had been talking with Mr Chandra long enough for class to change and he now had English, a class he shared with just Rani. As soon as he sat down, she was asking him questions.

"It was Lucy," Luke said. "She's run away."

"What?" Rani snapped.

"Mum's looking for her," Luke said. "And she can have Mr Smith track her phone if needed."  
Rani nodded but suggested that they left the school during break to find her.

"Mum doesn't need us all going missing," Luke pointed out.

But the deliberation was clear on his face. He paused for a moment and then reached into his bag, pulling out his phone. One of the things Luke had learnt pretty quickly was how to text without looking. It was a skill he had assumed would be useful considering how much trouble he seemed to find himself in but it had a particular use in lessons. He'd texted in class lots of times before and he hadn't been caught.

'Mum found you yet?' he asked, before slipping his phone away.

.

Sarah Jane was just at the laboratories when Lucy's phone pinged. She frowned, looking at Lucy. The girl opened her phone and frowned and then locked it again without a word.

"Who was that?" Sarah Jane asked. "Luke?"

"I don't know," Lucy replied, not making eye contact.

Exasperated, Sarah Jane asked for the phone. She was thankful she had forbidden either of her children from putting passwords on their phones she did not know as she unlocked it and read the message.

"He's only asking if you're safe," Sarah Jane informed her as she sent off a quick message.

Then she climbed out of the car and stared at the laboratories before her. Lucy joined her, staring.

"Welcome to X-Spansion Labs," Sarah Jane said as she led the way towards the large glass block.

The windows, which seemed to span the entire building, were tinted black and Sarah Jane had the ominous feeling that someone was watching them.

"They are working on revolutionising the way we see genetically-engineered plants. They want the world to see them as a salvation and they're doing a good job of producing new ones. Too good a job."

"Aliens?" Lucy suggested.

"Could be," Sarah Jane replied, holding open the door.

.

There was a man waiting for them in the lobby of the laboratory. He was greying and dressed in a crumpled lab coat with body language that belonged on a flustered high school teacher, not a professional scientist in one of the most advanced labs of his field. Not facing them, he was talking on an ear piece in a hush voice and Sarah Jane strained to hear it.

"Well keep it under wraps. A journalist will be here any second. She can't see."

There was a second as the man listened for a reply and Sarah Jane signalled for Lucy to stop, deciding to wait a few seconds before announcing their presence. It would stop their guide from instantly assuming they had overheard anything.

"Professor Burton?" Sarah Jane called suddenly.

The man turned abruptly and his worried expression quickly snapped into a smile. He extended a hand, grinning.

"Miss Smith, what a pleasure. I've read many of your pieces."  
His eyes passed down to Lucy.

"And who might this young lady be?"

"My daughter," Sarah Jane said, "Lucy. She's doing a project on genetically modified plants for school so her teacher thought it would be good if she sat in on the interview. I hope you don't mind."

For a moment Professor Burton stared and then he shook his head. A reluctance was clear on his face however.

"Just don't let her out of your sight. There are some very dangerous things about here and we do not wish for someone to get hurt."

.

The tour and interview was going well. Lucy was keeping quiet, listening in the disinterested way she seemed to listen to most things. Sarah Jane was getting a lot for the article she was going to write as well. But things weren't putting her as ease. People were hurrying about, black clad security guards and scientists seemed nervous and busy. She was watching them with a curious eye, noting that quite a few seemed tempted to go up to Professor Burton and start a conversation until he waved them away.

"Have we come at a bad time?" Sarah Jane asked, eventually.

Professor Burton continued on, too polite to answer. But it spoke volumes. Shooting a look towards Lucy, Sarah Jane went after the professor. He had just turned a corner and they rushed after him to find him standing there, staring ahead. A security guard was slumped against a wall.

"Is he okay?" Lucy asked, moving towards the unconscious security guard.

She reached a hand out, noticing something green on his neck.

Suddenly a hand closed about hers. She yanked her wrist free, slapping the owner with her free hand. Professor Burton stumbled back, a hand on his cheek.

"Lucy!" Sarah Jane gasped, staring in horror.

"You shouldn't touch them," Professor Burton said, composing himself as the journalist offered apologies. "And I understand. What's going on here could make anyone jumpy."

Slowly the Professor knelt down. He produced a set of gloves from his lab coat and tilted the guard's head to the side. A large green patch looking like vines, was growing on his neck.

"There was a leak in one of the laboratories. Some of the chemicals we were using got out, infected the scientists in there. If they touch you, they make you like them."

"Like what?" Sarah Jane asked, staring at the infection on the guard's neck.

"Sarah Jane," Lucy called.

The journalist frowned as she looked at her daughter. She saw something close to horror in the girl's eyes as she offered out her hand to help Sarah Jane to her feet.

"What's wrong?"

"I slapped him. He twisted his neck. I saw…"

The two watched in horror as Professor Burton turned to them, a green mark clear on his neck. He reached out, his fingers stroking it gently. He shuddered.

"Help me," he whispered.

"We can try," Sarah Jane said. "But you need to promise not to touch either of us."

Professor Burton had stumbled to his feet and was staring at the two of them. A cluster of scientists rounded the corner they had just taken only to be waved away by Sarah Jane and Lucy.

Already the stain was growing as if awoken by the recognition it was there. It was climbing up his neck and disappearing down his shirt, vines popping from his neck like veins. Sarah Jane raised her watch, running a scan while putting a hand out to protect Lucy.

"You need to tell us what you've been exposed too," Sarah Jane instructed.

Professor Burton's hands were green and reaching out to grab at them.

"Run," Sarah Jane ordered.

Before she could finish the stain had enveloped Professor Burton's face. The two set off, Lucy jogging alongside Sarah Jane so they were not separated.

.

Luke, Clyde and Rani practically ran out of school when the bell rang. They rushed across the playground, Luke already bringing up his mother's number.

"Mum," he called the moment she answered.

"Luke, I can't really talk now," Sarah Jane's voice called.

Luke frowned, asking what was wrong. He could hear Lucy speaking in the background.

"Where are you?" Rani eventually asked.

"It doesn't matter," Sarah Jane said firmly.

Luke shook his head, telling his mum to stay safe before hanging up.

"She's in trouble. Why did you not push to find out where she is?" Clyde demanded, almost jumping about in his frustration.

Rani turned to Luke, looking for an explanation. Slowly the young man complied, pointing out that his mother had told him she had been working on a story and that since she had found Lucy that was probably where she had gone.

"X-Spansion laboratories," Luke informed them both.

"Then let's go!" Clyde cheered, hurrying off.

Rani stopped him, putting her hand on his.

"How are we going to get there?" she asked.

Luke paused for a second before sighing. He tugged off his school bag.

"Mum gave me some money in case of emergencies," he pointed out, checking the amount. "That'll be enough to get us there."

"And I think this counts as an emergency," Clyde grinned, pulling out his phone to call for a taxi.

.

Sarah Jane soniced the doors locked as soon as Lucy closed them behind them. The two were in some sort of laboratory and the journalist took stock of the room as she doubled over and panted. Before she had fully recovered, however, she turned to Lucy.

"Your arm… where he touched you. Infected?"  
Examining her arm, Lucy shook her head.

Both jumped as Professor Burton slammed against the doors and Sarah Jane began to hurry about, looking for another way of escape.

"He's getting through," Lucy reported, leaning her weight against the door in an effort to keep it closed.

"There's another door," Sarah Jane cheered.

She tried it, frowning as she saw it was locked. However, a quick buzz from her sonic lipstick had it open.

"Come on!" she shouted, turning to Lucy.

As soon as the girl raced away from the door, Professor Burton threw it open. Tensely Sarah Jane watched as Lucy sped across the room, avoiding the scientist the best she could. Joining the journalist, they darted into the next laboratory, locking the doors firmly behind themselves.

.

Luke, Clyde and Rani frowned as they walked into the X-Spansion offices. Looking about, they saw no one, heard no one.

"Where is everyone?" Rani asked as they hurried over to the sleek white desk they assumed the receptionist should be behind.

A phone was resting out of its cradle, swaying on its chord. Papers were scattered about the desk and the floor, giving them the distinct feeling that there'd been a struggle. Rushing around, Luke slipped into the receptionist's seat and began to look through her files.

"It says Mum and Lucy got here," Luke announced.

He was continuing to work, his friend's eyes on him, when they heard a door open. Clyde looked round and froze.

"Err… Guys…" he called. "I don't want to worry you but…"

A creature, head, torso and arms enveloped by thick green vines, stood there, staring at them. Its legs were that of a woman's, a black skirt or dress cutting off at the knee, high heels clipping at the floor as she stalked forwards. She watched them slowly, a surprising feat for someone with no clear eyes, and raised her hands.

Luke slipped out of the seat, glancing at other possible exits. He could see movement down one and while he was not sure if he saw a creature or not, he did not want to risk it.

"This one's clear!" Rani called from a few metres away.

She was pointing down a corridor leading off and started towards it as the boys did the same.

"What is happening?" she asked as she grabbed the door.

"Don't know!" Clyde said. "Just run!"

.

"Something must have caused this," Sarah Jane said, looking about the laboratory.

The doors to that room seemed stronger than the ones before, as if built to withstand a failed experiment. Professor Burton stood beside the door, watching them. Sarah Jane could see intelligence there, a plotting for a way to get in and a patience in knowing that the journalist and her daughter could not stay in the room forever.

"What?" Lucy asked.

"I suspect X-Spansion Laboratories were indeed working with things they did not understand – things not of this Earth. I can only assume that something went wrong and this is what prompted the… The infection."  
"How do we get out?" Lucy asked. "And how do we stop it?"  
She paused, waiting for Sarah Jane to offer an answer. When none came, Lucy offered her own.

"I could probably hold him off long enough for you to get out," Lucy said.

"You will do no such thing!" Sarah Jane gasped.

"I might be able to resist the infection," the girl countered and growled when Sarah Jane shook her head.

She could not let her daughter do it. They did not understand the range of protection her and Luke's perfect health and advanced immune systems afforded them but she had no intention of testing them to find out. And that went a hundred-fold when she had no knowledge of a possible cure.

"We'll think of another way," Sarah Jane assured her.

Lucy nodded. The journalist began to pace, thinking as quickly as she could. Professor Burton had done a rather good job of keeping everything quiet and Sarah Jane could not help but feel guilty that she had not pressed on with investigating the urgency and nervousness sooner. Perhaps if she had, Lucy would not be trapped in the building with her.

She just needed to think of a way out. It wasn't going to be easy. While she was able to grasp a lot of scientific concepts, she struggled with such advanced thinking as genetic-modification. And how was she meant to create a cure? She supposed Luke would be able to, so long as she got him the right information.

Luke!

School would have ended. He had enough time to be home by that point and he'd called. He must have been going out of his mind with worry. And one of the traits she loved and hated the most about her son was his need to intervene if something worried him. She loved it of course but hated it also, because it terrified her that one day she would get a call telling her that he had intervened in something too big and gotten himself killed.

Tugging out her phone, she decided to call him. What she was supposed to say eluded her but she supposed she intended to order him up to the attic to get help from Mr Smith.

"Luke?" she called as she phone was answered.

"Mum! Where are you?" Luke asked, sounded panicked.

Sarah Jane felt her heart stop, rushing to explain.

"We know you're at X-Spansion Laboratories. We're here too," the young man said.

Sarah Jane felt her heart stop and she glanced towards Lucy. As much as she loved her children, and it was a love dearer than anything she'd ever felt, there were times when she wished Archetype programming had not included being such strong magnets for trouble.

"Don't let anyone touch you, anyone. There's an infection that is very aggressive and we aren't sure of the side effects yet."

"We know about the infection," Luke agreed. "We think it's the receptionist."

Sarah Jane paled at this and shook her head. It was spreading throughout the workers. How long until it got outside? How quickly would it spread once it did? Her son and his friends seemed to have the same concerns.

"We're looking for a way to put the lab into lock down," Rani said.

Sarah Jane nodded and stood speechless for a second.

"Is Lucy with you?" Luke asked, slowly.

Despite their situation, Sarah Jane smiled. Lucy's and Luke's relationship was something she considered to be undeniably complex – brother and sister by genetics, created by different species with the same goal, two failed murder attempts already between them and it had only been a week. And while Lucy's feelings towards Luke seemed to be something of friendship (whether or not prompted by Sarah Jane's clear desire for them to get along), Luke genuinely cared about her as if she was and always had been his sister.

"She's with me."  
The journalist considered tacking a 'she's safe' onto the end of that sentiment but she knew her son would realise she was lying.

.

"So where exactly are we going to find the lock down controls?" Clyde asked as they jogged along.

They could not see the receptionist behind them but they felt like constantly moving was the right thing. After all they would hear footsteps echoing about them as people moved past.

"What do you think is happening to them?" Rani murmured as they ducked into the shadows just as a security guard, skin patterned with green vines, stumbled past.

"I don't know," Luke admitted. "But was can't let this get out."

"The reception desk," Clyde said suddenly.

Both his friends turned to him with confused expressions. He nodded, assuring himself he was right and then moved to explain.

"It's like in films. They put the panic button at the front desk so it can be easily pressed. So the lock down controls could be on the reception desk."

Slowly Luke and Rani glanced at each other. Then they nodded. Resolved, the group looked back the way they had come, saw the corridor clear and headed down it.

.

"Where do you think he's gone?" Lucy asked, glancing out through the windows of the laboratory door.

Sarah Jane had been so busy trying to get readings from the rest of the laboratory that she had not been watching her daughter at all. Lucy, after all, was unlikely to find an interest in the chemicals that surrounded them and was thankfully unlikely to make a move without checking with the journalist first.

Frowning, the mother drew closer.

She stared out of the window and saw that Professor Burton had gone. Instantly her thoughts turned to her son, Clyde and Rani. She knew they were good; she knew they could handle themselves. But one touch could leave them like the professor and she had no clue if she could cure them.

"We should get out of here," Sarah Jane said, sonicking the door. "Let's see if we can find ground zero."

Lucy nodded and opened the doors, hands instinctively raised in case she needed to defend them. Sarah Jane slipped her sonic away quickly, flicking open her watch and scanning for any type of abnormal signal nearby. Hopefully they'd be able to get a warning if something did happen.

Slowly they began to make their way through the corridors.

"Why did you run away from the school?" Sarah Jane asked suddenly, watching Lucy out of the corner of her eye.

She had hoped that she might have been able to catch the girl off guard but she was heartbroken to find Lucy seemed to have been expecting an interrogation and a scolding.

"I don't like it there," Lucy explained.

Reluctance and aggression were clear in her voice but Sarah Jane did not for a second think she was going to end up on the receiving end of any violence from Lucy. She was trying to warn her away from the subject but there was very little bite to what she said. It seemed she had resigned herself to any punishment Sarah Jane was going to enforce upon her.

"Why don't you like it there?" Sarah Jane asked, curious and concerned.

"I can't…"

She stopped abruptly as Sarah Jane's watch gave an urgent beep. The journalist growled, sure she had been getting somewhere with the new addition to her family. But they had to planet to save. And whether or not the teenager had good reason to run away from the school had to wait.

There was the sound of footsteps and Sarah Jane glanced at Lucy, looking for a sign as to which direction they were coming from.

"We're surrounded," Lucy murmured.

.

Luke, Clyde and Rani almost skidded into the desk as they entered the lobby once more. Luke and Rani rushed to hold the doors and keep watch as Clyde sped over to the workspace and began to search for a button.

The only problem was there was more than one.

"Which button?" Clyde called.

"How are we supposed to know?" Rani called back from where she stood. "Just try them all!"  
"And what happens if one blows up the building?" the young man shouted back.

"Why would the receptionist have a button like that?"

"In case something like this happens?" Luke suggested.

Rani and Clyde both looked at him before Clyde began to drive his thumb down hard on each button. There was a buzzing of intercoms. The speakers about the building blared. A fire alarm began to whine and then cut out suddenly.

"I can't find it," Clyde reported.

Then he knelt down, staring at the underside of the desk. That was where the button would be in a film. And there it was. A small plastic case was around it, helpfully labelled with the word 'lockdown'. Clyde flipped open the covering and pressed the large red button.

A new alarm filled the air, this one accompanied by flashing red lights.

"Lockdown in progress," a mechanical voice announced.

"You did it!" Rani cheered.

"Don't sound so surprised," Clyde laughed, watching as metal shutters slowly began to descend.

.

"Look, you don't need to infect us," Sarah Jane said. "We can help you."  
She raised her hands slowly, hoping that there was enough human left for them to understand she was surrendering. She glanced down at Lucy to see that the girl had lowered her hands from her defensive stance and the journalist felt that was probably the best she was going to get from her.

Before them stood two of the infected workers. Behind them was Professor Burton. Or what was left of him. He didn't look at all like the man who had given them the tour but Sarah Jane recognised his smartly polished shoes.

"If you take us to the lab where this all started…" Sarah Jane began.

Suddenly the lights cut out and an alarm filled the air. The journalist felt something grab her hand and jumped back as it attempted to pull her after it.

"Lucy!" she cried into the darkness, grabbing empty air in an attempt to find her daughter.

As red emergency lighting filled the corridor, Sarah Jane realised that the thing that had grabbed her hand had been a hand itself – Lucy's. An attempt to silently make an escape.

Lucy was on the other side of Professor Burton, no longer cornered. The infected man was looking at her shocked.

"I'll catch the girl. You handle the journalist," Professor Burton ordered in a voice that was distinctly not his.

It sounded distorted – like the voice of a villain from a b-list horror film.

"Run!" Sarah Jane ordered, eyes meeting Lucy's.

It was only with this word that the journalist understood how the girl could have possibly made it past the alien. Lucy did not run. She launched herself into a series of graceful and quick cartwheels before coming to a stop at the end of the corridor and springing off the wall to take the corner.

Professor Burton growled and gave chase, vines speeding to take full control of his legs. Sarah Jane watched in horror as he went but realised he was leaving the corridor free for her. She sprinted off after him, leaving the two meant to be 'dealing' with her in her wake as she turned down the corridor Lucy had not taken.

.

Rani had to admit that she had preferred it when the building had been properly lit. IN the dull emergency lighting, she could hardly make out which boy was which beside her, let alone if there was some infected scientist hiding in the shadows beside them.

"What do you think caused this?" Clyde asked, quietly.

There was something about the lighting that suggested quiet. The alarms from the lockdown had gone, especially since the situation was clear.

"I don't know," Luke admitted. "But Mum might know, if we find her."  
There was a tone of worry in his voice and Rani turned to him, words of reassurance on her tongue. Then she was movement behind the group, something staggering through the eerie red light towards them.

"We need to move!" she shouted, pointing it out.

Both boys twisted around to look and then quickly offered their agreement, breaking into a run and pulling Rani with them.

.

Sarah Jane was horrified when she ducked into a laboratory and sonicked the door into locking. Both her children were out there. Luke with Clyde and Rani had been bad enough but Lucy was out there alone with one of the infected chasing her. And yes, there were two cornering the journalist, but she couldn't even think of that. Not when the next glimpse she could get of one of her children or one of her friends could be with the green vine infection crawling across their skin and turning them into one of those things.

She reminded herself that the humans were still inside. Professor Burton and the others might be still alive in there. Certainly it seemed like their bodies were still being used and that meant there was a chance.

She shouldn't have brought Lucy, shouldn't have told Luke where she was writing a story on… But it didn't matter. That was all in the past. And she needed to find a way out to offer them help. She smiled, looking about the laboratory. It was small, probably meant for only a single person to work. And the equipment there was very advanced. She scanned the bottles of chemicals, looking for something she recognised. But she couldn't find anything. There were a few labelled with aggressive looking warning signs but she dared not use them, not if there were still people inside those masses of vines.

Deciding she was trapped for the moment, Sarah Jane crossed over to the door and flipped open her scanner, scanning the creatures.

.

Lucy stared at the thing through the glass. There was no longer any of Professor Burton to be seen. His arms and legs were made entirely of long intertwined vines and his face was more like a Venus flytrap than anything else.

"Little girl," the thing cooed, stroking one long thorny branch down the glass.

Lucy leapt back, feeling a second door behind her. She twisted about, grinning as she found a large circular wheel. She spun it, opening the door as the creature watched her slowly.

"Come on, little girl. Embrace us. We can make you so much faster, stronger…"

As Lucy closed the door, she felt the world suddenly get so much quieter. She could no longer hear the thing's brittle coos or the clunking of the air vents. In fact, all she could hear was the hum of a filter. She looked around the room and saw it was spotless – white and furnished with glass test tubes and metal stools.

A large glass window kept her separate from the thing and she smirked slightly, doubting he would be able to reach her. She didn't understand where she was but that didn't matter. The thing was not trying the door any longer. She was safe.

Then a crackle filled the room. Lucy glanced about and saw a speaker fitted in the corner of the room.

"Bad move, little girl," the thing crowed. "I'll give you one more chance, embrace us or I will kill you."  
Lucy frowned, shaking her head. Sarah Jane had not wanted to let the thing infect her so the girl knew she couldn't let it do the same to her either. She found herself reaching for her phone even as the thing gave a frustrated sigh.

"Then goodbye," he cooed.

The thing pressed two buttons and two things happened very quickly indeed. A clunking came from the doors as two large metal beams shot out, holding the doors in place. And a red light bathed the room. A second later an alarm blared with a mechanical voice making a calm announcement.

"What did you do?" Lucy asked.

The thing was already moving away and the girl waited until he was gone before she pulled out her phone.

.

Luke frowned as his phone rang. The moment he saw it was Lucy he almost jumped for joy. He gathered Clyde and Rani around him. They had just come to a stop, sure they had escaped the thing after them. But they didn't know if they had long. The phone call was synced with them glancing about, checking that they were alone.

"Lucy? Where are you? Is Mum with you?"

"A laboratory on the western side of the building, third floor, and Mum is not with me," Lucy replied, calmly.

Luke glanced towards Rani and Clyde, urgency in his eyes. He began moving, already working out which way was west. His friends followed him loyally, glancing about for any more of the creatures.

"Are you alone? There's no one with you?" Luke asked.

Even as Lucy confirmed she was alone, Luke heard another voice. When he asked her about it, the answer he was given made his blood run cold.

"What do you mean: 'sterilisation initiated'?" Luke asked, hoping that it was not what he thought it was.

Quickly Lucy ran through the past few moments. Luke felt sick. She was in an airlock, one clearly meant to handle dangerous materials and the place was about to be sterilised. Given the strength of some of the stuff he had seen around them, he didn't think the experience would be pleasant for his little sister.

"There's got to be a way out," Clyde said. "They've got to have a protocol in case someone does end up trapped in a lab."

"I think the doors are locked," Lucy pointed out.

Luke nodded and continued on. A sonic lipstick would have been rather useful at that moment.

"Would a computer help?" Rani asked, pointing down a corridor to a bank of computers.

Grinning, Luke rushed over.

"Maybe I can hack the system and get all the doors to unlock," Luke said, sitting down.

He handed Rani his phone who rushed to offer Lucy calming words. They weren't accepted, with calm questions being asked on how Luke was doing.

Clyde was by his friend's side, encouraging him. Luke blocked it out, focusing on getting into the security features of the laboratories. He knew better than to scold his friend for the sentiment however and grinned as he got into the right part of the system.

"Here we go."

He pressed a key and nodded at Rani to tell her he was done.

"Any change?" Rani asked.

"The bars around the doors have gone," Lucy announced.

.

Sarah Jane paled as she heard the lock of the door click, open. One of the creatures stumbled in, a smile on his Venus flytrap features. The journalist put her hands up to defend herself and felt a sudden slap to the arm as the thing caught it. She gasped, staring down and watched in horror as her skin began to turn green.

.

Lucy's announcement had brought a whoop of joy from Rani but Clyde still felt

"And you can get out, right?" Clyde clarified.

"How do I open the door?"

Two sets of eyes fell onto Luke as he tried to work out what the airlocks would look like. He asked her how she had gotten in but she confessed that the door was very different on her side.

"Isn't there instructions?" Clyde asked. "Near the door or something."

He briefly explained what he assumed one would look like and beamed when Lucy said there was one.

"Then get out of there," Luke instructed.

"One problem: I can't read."


End file.
